Pump impeller



y 29, 1952 M. H. BAKER 2,604,852

PUMP IMPELLEIR Filed May 3, 1948 INVENTOR MILLLARD H. BAKER ATTO R NEY Patented July 29, 1952 2,604,852, V PUMP IMPELLER Millard H, Bakenqst. Louis, Mo., ass ignori to I rationjof Illinois;

Application,May-3, 1948;S'er'ial No; 24,7 7? a realms.v (01 mass) This invention relatesto peripheral type-pumps; and has particular reference toan improved impeller or-rotor member for such pumps;

An objec-t-of-'the'invention is to providefor peripheral pumps, an impeller formed of a flexible; resilient' material such as; rubber; which is reinforced-for structural stability in pump operation;

Another'obj'ect is toprovide an. impeller of the foregoing character; whichis more economical'ofmanuf'acturethanthe usual or prevailing all metal'impellers, andwhich will increase pump efficiency by; reason of -an improved seal effected bythe rubber impeller at the partitiqnor block etw n he pumn asin n etand u e urth ri o ject: is to; provide, a structura emiorc diruhhe mne1 e .,.of bucket type for p pheral nump wherein the annular bucket section of the impeller isformed entirely of rubber, to afford a yielding resiliency of thebuckets and. vane elements, thereof, which will reduce bucket and pump casing damage by solid objects and abrasive material Whichmay-enter and. pass through the pump. I

Other objects and advantages of they present improvements will appear from the following description. of a presently: preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying dra-wing; wherein: Y

Fig 1 V is, a: sectional elevationof a p mpnstructure embodyingthe presently improved impeller, theqsection-being taken along line ll ofyEig.;2;

Fig,;- 2 is a, sectional view=-in;plan, through the me sq i a h mpell r erein. "an

-z 3 u frasmentar rer pher p an-view oft'he impeller as taken from; line 3-3 in- Fi .2.

R erringv to the, drawin the: pu p as emb shown in Fig. 1 includes a v pump housing l providing a side wall II, and an internal Wall 52 of annular extent, defining in part a fiuidchannel M. A removable casing closuremember;--l5 seeuredtocasing Ill-as by'suitable bolts l6; serves to complete the channel It. Casing It further is formed to. provide an inlet fitting l8 providing a passage 19 communicating with channel I4, and an outlet fitting 20 having a passage 22 communicating with channel It. The inlet and outlet passages of the fittings are separated by a partition wall or block 23 providing a curved surface 24 for cooperation with the periphery of the rotor 26.

Rotor 26 is mounted upon and suitably secured to one end of a shaft 2'1, the latter extend 7 i or the like .(notshQWnl; In:itspassa elthrou h wall II, the-shaft '2'! is:sealedfagainst:fluidileake age byv a suitable packing or sealingglandjstrucr. ture 28; Ref erring: now to the structure of the: impeller 26, the. impeller provides; a disc-body 3.0:of1a flexible, resilient "material such as: rubber; :aishaft mounting: hub 3 l and a *bodyrreinforcing; member or disc 32; In the presentembodiment; itavis" preferred to provide the hub: 31 and reinforcing disc 32 as an integralbr bne-pieces'triictlir 'of metal such 'asbrassorbronze: Therubber'body 30 is" molded about disc 32''to effect a firm as. sembly. As appears inthedrawing, the radial extent of'reinforcing disc 32 may be," andfby present preference is, determined to be suchtliat the disc periphery terminates appreciably iii-i wardly of the-periphery 34 of th'e impeller body; preferably terminating: near 'the root circle-of the impellerbuckets 35' -In molding the rubber body 30' to disc '32, themolding operation in-f eludes formation of the peripheral-sectionof-the rubberb'ody to afford a central annular web '35 tapering convergently towarc'lthe periphery efth'e-"ro'tor, and a series of equallyspaced ribs -38 on eachsid'e of'the'centerweb- 36'." 'The-web and; ribs form the rotor buckets 35-. I I Preferablyj'and as illustrated in Fig, 3; the-ribs 38 are relatively staggered onthe opposite sides of theweb 36, to eflect "the illustrated. staggered "relation of-the buckets. w 17 Adjacentihub 3 the impeller' is-providedwlth openings 39-through 'the rubber body and reiriforcing disc 32; these openings providingfiliii'd communication from one side t'o; the other- 0f the impeller in thecasing chamber-d 0 whereby to afford equalization: of-fiuid pressures -on-jthe opposite sides of the impellersMoreoverijfn order-to afford greater flexibilitybf the'impeller inwardly of the bucket zone thereof; messa es;

' faces" 'O e d fmer ir e "shown;

toprovide alternate ribs 43and channels 44; in the present example, such formation of the impeller faces 42 may be effected so as to provide the channels 44 on each side, as a single spiral channel directed with respect to the direction of impeller rotation, such as to utilize centrifugal force to carry fluid along the channels toward the bucket zone of the impeller. This will tend to reduce to a material degree, the extent of fluid leakage from the impeller channel l4 tothe central casing chamber 40.

It will appear now that an improved seal is here effected between the periphery of the rubber impeller and the surface 24 of the casing partition 23, as well as between the lateral surfaces 46 of partition 23 and the bucket-forming ribs 38. The seal thus obtaining at the partition, serves to reduce fluid leakage-loss between the pump outlet and inlet, thereby improving pump efiiciency.

It is to be emphasized here that one of the important features of the present improvements lies in the resiliency of the bucket section of the impeller, this portion of the impeller being entirely of rubber since the reinforcing disc 32 terminates short thereof, as illustrated. Consequently, it will be appreciated that the buckets may yield in the presence of solid objects which may enter the pump, and may allow such objects to pass to discharge without such damage to the buckets as would otherwise occur were the impeller structure formed of metal. Moreover, in the event of the entrance of solid objects too large for the impeller to carry to discharge without some damage to the pump, it will appear that the bucket ribs being of rubber, may absorb the damage as by shearing, to relieve jamming and scoring engagement of the solid objectoriobjects with the sides of the impeller channel 14. Since the present impeller may be manufactured quite economically in comparison to the cost of manufacture of all-metal impellers, the replacement cost in the event of impeller damage, will be much less.

It is to be observed further that in forming the presently improved rubber impeller, the impeller surface configuration and buckets are the result of a single molding operation. Thus is eliminated the expensive machining operations which are required to be performed on metal impellers to effect the peripheral buckets and a running fit of the'impeller in the pump.

. Having now described a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the drawing, what is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:-

--1. A rotor for peripheral type pumps, comprising a unitary member providing a hub and a radially outstanding disc thereon, a body of rubber encompassing said disc and bonded thereto, said bodyhaving its peripheral portion extended outwardly beyond the peripheral margin of the disc andformed to provide a'double series of buckets, and said body further providing spiral, fluidreceiving grooves in the opposite faces thereof radially inward of said buckets, the spiral groove in -each face of the body being directed with respect to the direction of rotation of the rotor such-that fluid received in the groove will be displaced therealong under the influence of centrifugal force, toward the peripheral bucket zone of the rotor body. v

2. In aperipheral type pump including a'casing providing a fluid channel, relatively ,adjacent fluid inlet and outlet passages for said channel, and a wall element separating said passages and providing a channel portion forming a continuation of said casing channel, the combination therewith of a rotor comprising a hub having a disc element radially outstanding thereon, and a body of resilient material embracing said disc and secured thereto, the peripheral portion of said body projecting radially beyond the periphery of said disc and formed to provide an annular series of rotor buckets, said rotor buckets operating in the casing channel and having a running seal in the channel portion of the passage separating wall element, and said body further presenting opposite faces each having a fluidreceiving groove therein of spiral trend terminating adjacent the rotor buckets, the spiral groove in each face being directed in respect to the direction of rotation of the rotor in the pump, such that fluid received in the groove will be displaced therealong under the influence of centrifugal force, toward the terminal of the groove adjacent the rotor buckets.

3. In a peripheral type pump including a casing providing a fluid channel, relatively adjacent fluid inlet and outlet passages for said channel, and a wall element separating said passages and providing a channel portion forming a continuation of said casing channel, the combination therewith of a rotor comprising a hub, a single disc element radially outstanding on the hub, a body of rubber embracing said disc element and bonded thereto, the peripheral portion of said body extending outwardly of the periphery of the disc element and formed to provide an annular series of rotor buckets, andsaid body presenting opposite planar faces and being formed further, to provide a groove of spiral trend in each face terminating adjacent the ro-v tor buckets, said rotor buckets operating in the casing channel and having a running seal in the channel portion of the passage separating wall element.

MILLARD H; BAKER REFERENCES CITED The following references are. of record in-the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain -Jan. 8, 1937 

